Telegram has gained a lot of users not just for its features but also for its end-to-end encryption, as security is a main concern for a lot of people nowadays. And in this vein, the app has been fighting a battle against Russia’s Federal Security Service (the successor to the KGB) who wants the company to share its encryption keys. The country’s Supreme Court has now rejected their appeal to not comply with this directive and will pay a fine of $14,000 for refusing to potentially give access to their customer’s data.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government have asked communication companies to help them track electronic messaging if the need arises. The FSB says that they are technically not violating users’ privacy by asking for the encryption keys because if they needed to collect data on specific individuals, they will still need a court order to gain access. Now the country’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor says Telegram has 15 days to provide the encryption keys as “requested”.
Telegram will of course appeal the decision and they will continue to “stand for freedom and privacy.” If the government wants to block the service, they will have to require a separate court ruling. They believe that these threats to block the messaging app in the country unless they give up the private data of their users will not come to fruition. Telegram is one of the last holdouts in this particular campaign by the government.
There are currently 9.5 million Telegram users in Russia. They are also currently in the middle of an initial coin offering of as much as $2.55 billion after raising $850 million from investors earlier this year.
VIA: Bloomberg
